A journalist who tried to attend a public event featuring Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said he was “carried out like a sack of potatoes” by two security guards after having his ticket cancelled. McDonnell took part in a “head-to-head” discussion last night at a London hotel with Jewish Voice for Labour co-chairman Jenny Manson, who hopes to become a prospective parliamentary candidate for Labour. McDonnell is a supporter of Manson’s parliamentary candidacy. Jewish Voice for Labour is a pro-Corbyn fringe group for Jewish party members. Freelance Etan Smallman, who writes features for national newspapers including the i, Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Mail, attended the meeting in a personal capacity as a constituent of Finchley and Golders Green. The meeting was held in Cricklewood, within the constituency borders. However, less than 24 hours before the event, Smallman, along with journalists from the Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News, received emails saying their tickets had been cancelled as they did not have media accreditation. A spokesperson for Manson’s campaign team, which organised the event, said the journalists should have applied for media accreditation alongside the tickets, but Ben Weich of the Chronicle told Press Gazette he did not recall seeing an option to do this on the online booking page. Smallman had not sought accreditation because he was not attending in a professional capacity and had not been commissioned to write about the event. Weich and Jenni Frazer of the News both wrote about the ban yesterday, resulting in the decision being… [Read full story]